


Another MDC fic

by Causemufins



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Lila bashing, Lila can die, MDC AU, adrien bashing, i can't write endings, please it's so bad, this story is a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 05:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21314926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Causemufins/pseuds/Causemufins
Summary: a Fic for the MDC au. I did this in my spare time over a month so it's not the best, but hopefully it's passable.for those who don't know this AU, its Marinette going by the pseudonym MDC to get her work out but not get popular.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Lila Rossi, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Penny Rolling/Jagged Stone
Comments: 10
Kudos: 528





	Another MDC fic

“No! No no no! Please Jagged! I’m only 14! And I don’t want to be in the public’s eye. You coming to the bakery for your show and my hat design and album design and even your glasses. I mean the stress is too-”  
  
“Calm down ‘Nette.” Jagged put his hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “First, it’s Uncle Jagged. Second, I know you like being anonymous. When I was suggesting we show off your rock and roll designs to the world, Penny said you would act like this and suggested a suit a name.”  
  
“A what?”  
  
At that, Penny spoke up. “Pseudonym. We don’t directly state you are the designer, but you use a fake name so you can still be credited.”  
  
“I… I wouldn’t mind that.” Marinette relented. “But what would it be?”  
  
“Well, how about your initials? I mean, close enough, and most people would do first middle and last and not expect two last names.”

“So… MDC?”  
  
“Yep, sounds pretty rock and roll to me.”

Marinette thought about it for a few moments then nodded. “Yeah. MDC. That can work!”  
  
“Rock and roll! Just wait til the interview today! Everyone’s gonna know about you, and also not.”  
  
Jagged gave Marinette a big bear hug and started to leave. Marinette gave Fang a few pats before he left and also waved goodbye to Penny.

  
  
Jagged Stone’s New Mysterious Designer.  
  
Last night, during an interview on Jagged’s upcoming album: Heroic fire, all about the heroes of Paris, one question was posed to the rock star when it was noticed he was sporting a new custom jacket. He revealed a new designer that created the design. Said designer goes simply by MDC. Already people are speculating on who this new designer is and when we will see more of their work. Only time will tell how well their designs will hold up, but one thing is for sure, with a famous individual such as Jagged Stone endorsing your work, it’s only a matter of time before they join the leagues of famous designers such as Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois.

The whole class was buzzing about the report from this morning about the new designer MDC. Unfortunately, it didn’t make Marinette happy at all to hear her classmates talking about her designs when Lila was involved. “Oh yes! I do know MDC.  
They’ve let me look at plenty of their designs and I help with anything that needs fixing. Of course I have the eyes for it from my modelling.”  
  
Marinette rolled her eyes. Of course Lila was going to be turning this around in her favor. She should have expected it from the very start. And unfortunately, Alya seemed to notice her eye rolling. “Look Marinette, just because Lila is helping a better designer than you, doesn’t mean you should be getting upset.”

Marinette’s jaw dropped. “What? It’s true. I mean, this is better than any of your work. Plus of course Lila is helping if they’re endorsed by Jagged Stone. She’s probably the reason MDC made anything for Jagged.”  
  
Marinette couldn’t take it. “Look. Lila isn’t the one helping MDC. I am. Lila is actually really mean towards them.”

This time, Alya rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie to me Marinette. I mean, you don’t have any proof.”

“I do have proof!” Marinette shouted though still in a whisper. “Next design is a bag for Clara Nightingale. White body, navy strap. Multicolored decoration with an emphasis on navy to match the strap but give it pizazz. You are not to tell anyone about this or else there could be some big problems. Think of it like… If you were a superhero like Ladybug or Rena Rouge and don’t tell anyone.” She knew the last comment would get through to Alya since she was Rena Rouge.

Alya was surprisingly quiet. “That’s… specific enough I could probably trust it, but not until I see it with my own eyes.”

Marinette rolled her eyes again. So she needed to see the proof in person for Marinette but takes Lila at her word? She sighed to calm herself down before an akuma showed up and then class began.  


  
  
The next work by MDC was released to the press. It was Clara’s bag. It had been announced while everyone was at class so the school was buzzing at lunch time.  
  
“‘Oh I absolutely love this brand new bag. This design is anything but a drag. It works with all my clothes you see, and all because of MDC!’”  
  
“So, I guess you were right girl. At least that you know MDC, but you’re still jealous of Lila and she seemed to know about the bag too.”  
  
That stunned Marinette. How had Lila known? She kept her sketchbook under lock and key, so Lila couldn’t have seen it. Unless she had managed to overhear their talk which she wouldn’t put past Lila. Well, at least she was believed about knowing MDC for now. Unfortunately, she didn't want to tell more people, so the attention was still towards Lila.

  
  
A few months had passed. MDC was one of the biggest designers in France and well known even outside of the country. Everyone knew how they made all the designs themselves, mostly by hand. Half the time they did the pieces as gifts so they weren’t even paid. Apparently they had a completely different job but even that didn’t pay well. Jagged Stone had found out by word of mouth and ended up setting a fund for people to help give the designer a little more extra cash.  
  
Marinette was a little uncomfortable about the fund, so she ended up asking Jagged to cancel it, but she then set up a patreon so people could still send in money but they would get something back in return from showing off her design ideas that she never used. Then, after a certain point, she recorded a video of her actually sketching one of the ideas that was used as a design for a dress for Penny Rolling. Her favorite part was doing her nails for the video since it only showed her hands and not her face, though she unfortunately had to get rid of the color afterwards so her secret wouldn’t be found out.

She had just finished a few projects otherwise which she had already teased. One had actually been ordered by Audrey, one was another outfit for Jagged, the third was an environmentally friend piece for Prince Ali of all people and the last was a project for herself. Well, for Ladybug. She had had enough of Lila’s rumors so she was finally going to reveal herself.

She had already talked with Jagged about finally dropping the pseudonym and he warned her about companies jumping at the opportunity to hire her. She thought about that and decided to make a video. It would be uploaded publicly on her patreon and it would say how she was still a bit young to be hired and she was only doing one or two orders at a time because she was still in school. When she was at a less hectic time of her life, she would consider joining a company.

Unfortunately, her reveal kept being delayed because of akumas the other projects of course cake first, plus it gave her more time to think about how she would do it. Then the answer came.

Chloé had caught up to Ladybug after a battle and handed her two envelopes. The blonde explained there was an event coming up. It was going to be all about those who help for the greater good and it would be nice if Ladybug and Chat Noir were there. Ladybug assured she would find a way to be there, though she wasn’t sure about Chat Noir.

Once Marinette knew the date, she cleared her calendar for the day. Her parents asked her why she couldn’t do anything that day when she explained it all. They knew she was MDC with all the celebrities coming in and out and she was a designer of course. But learning that she had been designing for Ladybug? And then that she was finally going to reveal herself? That they weren’t expecting. Marinette explained everything she was planning other than the part that she was Ladybug. How she was asked to be behind the scenes at the party, though she was nervous about actually coming out once it was revealed, though in reality it was her just needing to be there as Ladybug.

It didn’t take much to convince her parents to get the day off. In fact, they actually started helping Marinette clear her schedule. They were surprised to see how detailed it was, only to learn it was everyone’s schedule. Sabine was able to pick out the part of the list that was specifically Marinette’s tasks and Tom was the one to notice all the babysitting.

“I didn’t think Nadja had scheduled you this many times for babysitting.”  
  
Marinette looked away slightly. “Well… that’s actually mostly for babysitting Alya’s sisters, Nino’s brother or all three at once. The orange dotted ones are the twins and green dots is Chris. Yellow is both. Blue is the dot for Manon.”  
  
“I see. Well, I suppose their parents have been paying you well enough? I guess maybe a little less since Nino and Alya are your friends. I can go call them and tell them and can ask myself.”  
  
Marinette’s eyes widened and she grabbed her dad’s arm as he tried to go for the phone. “That’s not necessary. I… um… don’t actually get paid for it.”  
  
“What?” Sabine asked, confused. “If it were just once, I could excuse it, but this is almost twice a week!”  
  
Marinette didn’t meet her parents eyes when they looked to her for answers. “Well… Normally Alya and Nino just ask me to do it for them. Mainly when they want to go on a date with each other but are busy. They ask me and… I just can’t say no.”  
  
Tom and Sabine looked at each other before Tom went towards the phone again. At the same time, Sabine went to hug her daughter. “Oh Marinette. You need to tell us these things. I know you don’t like to say know, but we’re here to try and help you when you’re in over your head. But we can’t do that if you don’t say anything.”

Marinette finally looked up at her mother. “Maman… I-”

She didn’t get the chance to say anything more as a red blurr came out of her bag. “Your daughter is Ladybug!”

Everyone was shocked and quiet, staring at the Kwami now floating in the air for the whole family to see. But finally after a few moments, Marinette was the first to move. “Ha ha, that’s crazy, why would I be Ladybug I’m not Ladybug, what even is this thing?”

Marinette tried pushing Tikki away but the kwami dodged her hands. “No! Marinette! I know you’re supposed to hide your identity, but I keep having to purify akumas while you’re sleeping and your parents have started to notice their stock going missing.”

“Our stock?” Sabine questioned before realizing the answer. “Oh! Our cookies have been going missing. Normally we’ve been thinking it was Marinette, but she normally asks. Was that you?”

Tikki nodded. “Yes. Purifying akumas by myself tires me out so I need to eat. The few times I’ve seen one away from the house I haven’t been able to since the cookies Marinette keeps are for after she’s been Ladybug, and if I use those, it could cause a problem.But since there are plenty here, it’s been helpful. Especially with how many there are.”

Marinette was caught off guard by all this. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I tried once, and you told me if it kept happening you would have to give the miraculous back to the guardian for him to pick someone new and I didn’t want to lose you as my chosen already.”

At this, Tom spoke up. “But wouldn’t us knowing cause a problem?”

“Not really.” Tikki replied, shaking her head. “She’s in more danger from you two not knowing. If she gives the miraculous back to the guardian, an akuma will reach her, and since she knows of the guardian and other miraculouses, it would put them all in danger. Plus Chat Noir commonly puts Ladybug before himself and that might mean Marinette would beat him because of that. But with you two knowing, she can keep the miraculous, have people who will care for her, and it will mean less akumas come after her.”

“That is a good reason to tell us. Thank you for letting us know Tikki.” Sabine said with a nod of thanks.

“Wait wait wait.” Marinette waved her hands to get her mother’s attention. “How did you know Tikki’s name? I didn’t say it, and neither did she.”

“I’ve overheard you saying that name a number of times while you were in your room. Because of your gaming habits, I assumed it was a friend online, but this makes a little more sense.”  
  
“Now Marinette,” Her father spoke up. “I’m glad we know. But, I suppose this explains your tardies and absences. If we had known about everything…”  
  
Marinette stopped her dad. “But you didn’t. And even with Ladybug , it’s not enough of an excuse for how late I was being.”  
  
“But now we can help you when you need it most.” Tom said, giving Marinette a hug.”

Marinette wasn’t having the best time at school. After the reveal to her parents, They had called Alya and Nino’s parents. Both pairs had no clue that the babysitting was almost always pushed onto Marinette if not someone else. Because of that, both of them had gotten in trouble.  
  
Nino was fortunately understanding of the problem and openly accepted his punishment. Alya, on the other hand, was furious. The moment she laid eyes on Marinette the reporter was screaming at her for what she had done. She had been grounded and had to give up half of her allowance for a few months to pay Marinette. All she had wanted was time with her boyfriend and Marinette just had to take that away. Didn’t Marinette know that she didn’t have much free time with reporting?

But Marinette stopped Alya before she could continue, the ravenette showing a higher level than confidence than normal. “First of all Alya, you have your reporting and I have designing. Plus I am the class representative and you’re supposed to be the vice representative but you never help. Then I already babysit Manon. I don’t need to babysit three other kids! And Then I help with Kitty Section and almost anything else the class asks of me. On top of that is my school work as well as working in my parent’s bakery and I already have trouble with being punctual. You have school, reporting and babysitting and that’s it. You technically don’t even have babysitting because you never do it! I’m too buried in work so I’m not going to be doing any more babysitting for you!”

With that, Marinette panted to catch her breath. She was already regretting her small rant, but the words that Alya said next changed her mind immediately. “Look, if you don’t babysit for me, then I absolutely won’t be able to get the interview Lila set up between me and MDC.”

“An… An interview with MDC? What? No, she doesn’t do interviews!” Marinette yelled, nearly blowing up at Alya.

“Lila said she got one set up for me. I won’t be able to see her face, but as long as she’s not too busy I’ll-”

“No. No! Alya! Why can’t you see Lila is lying?! And don’t say it’s because I’m jealous. I’m trying to protect you all! Lila promises so many things and what happens when you rely on that and it doesn’t come true!”

Alya crossed her arms. “Yeah right, but you’ve never had any proof.”

“Fine! You want proof! I’ll get you an actual interview like I was able to give you one with Ladybug! But let me guess, you still won’t believe me because when Lila said she knew Ladybug, I was skeptical, but you didn’t believe me even though you already had some proof that I knew her!”

Then before Alya could say any more Marinette stormed off to the bathroom and cried a little in frustration and eventually tried to clean herself up before class started. Alya still seemed upset and was ignoring her too. Marinette tried her best to focus on the lesson but was too lost in thought trying to figure out what to do.

The moment class ended, Lila was back to talking about MDC. She almost left, but then had an idea and walked back. “So, Lila. Since we supposedly both know MDC, how about we ask each other questions to prove it.”

“Oh Marinette, wouldn’t that reveal their identity to the public?”

Marinette crossed her arms. “I guess we’re starting then. No, we keep it vague and she’s revealing at the upcoming gala anyway. My turn. Her hair color?”

“Oh, she wears a wi-”

“No she doesn’t. No wig, no hair dye. It’s black hair. Your question?”

Lila tried to keep her calm, upset that Marinette actually knew this designer and it was going to be hard to bs her way through, especially with simple easy answer questions like that. “Well, maybe she doesn’t for you. Or maybe you think you met MDC.”

“Would have to be the first if anything because I know for sure I have met them. In fact I was with Jagged Stone when they decided to use a pseudonym to show themselves to the public. My turn.”

Lila stopped Marinette. “Wait, I didn’t even get to ask my question! You’re trying to make me look bad!”

Marinette rolled her eyes before responding. “Fine, go ahead. Ask away.”

“What’s her next design?”

“Depends. If you want the next to be released it’s either the piece which will lead to her reveal which is a dress being worn by Ladybug or a tote bag for Penny Rolling that matches the dress made for her, though she has said she is fine if it’s finished after the gala. If you mean the next design she’s planning, she’s not sure, she does the sketches when the requests come in, if you mean the ones that haven’t been started but are sketched then that would actually not be anything fabric and wearable but they’re helping design album an album cover for Kitty Section.”

That comment got a number of people’s attention. “Wait, MDC is designing for Kitty Section?” Came Rose’s voice.

Lila seemed like she was about to speak, but Marinette beat her to the punch. “Yeah, recently her schedule of other work was finally cleared so she’s able to take on more projects and she has actually been hoping to design that for a while but only had a sketch. It was on her to do later list since it was more graphic design rather than fashion design.”

Lila couldn’t get another word in as the members of Kitty Section minus Luka started happily freaking out at the news. The liar glared at Marinette, but the girl just smiled and gave a wink before walking off, her mood having improved greatly. But the second she was alone, she switched into panic mode. “Ah! Tikki what have I done?! Well I know I lost my cool but I still shouldn’t have done that!”

The kwami did her best to comfort Marinette. “It’s okay. She’s gotten on your nerves. But if you need a reason to not do it again, everyone will have to know when you’re revealed as MDC at the party.”

“I guess you’re right Tikki, but what if Lila twists what happened against me.”

“Well even if your friends aren’t there for you, your parents and I definitely are!”

Marinette gave a quick sigh to calm herself before pulling Tikki into a hug. “Thanks Tikki. I needed that.”

Today was the day, and Marinette was freaking out. She had already transformed and was pacing back and forth in her room. Chat Noir had unfortunately mentioned he was unable to attend, which meant she was going on her own.

Since Marinette had gotten to design for Audrey once as MDC, she was pretty sure Chloé knew that she was MDC, so it would help her as Marinette, and Chloé had worked with Ladybug a little bit, so at least she had someone on both sides of the mask at the party. Her phone alarm when off and Ladybug quickly turned it off before putting the ladybug dress on. It fit ever so slightly differently transformed, but it was good enough. She took a deep breath to calm herself before using her yo-yo to swing her to the party.

By the time she reached the hotel, the party had already begun. Marinette had set the alarm so she could get there early, but of course she was late as always, mostly since her nervousness led her to take a large detour around Paris. Still, swinging around the city helped calm her down, and when she finally landed, her confidence was back. Immediately people outside the entrance were taking pictures and some people were holding out microphones. One of these people that caught Ladybug’s eye was Alya.

“Ladybug! Please! You have to help me! My friend Lila got a pass for me to go interview MDC but she forgot to give it to me. You’re her friend, so can you help me in?”

It took all her strength to pretend she didn’t know what happened. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is. But I thought I heard that you were supposed to be given a pass by someone working with MDC. They were a friend of yours.”

“Yes! That’s Lila!” Alya exclaimed, but Ladybug shook her head.

“No, I could have sworn her name was Marinette.”

With those words, the color drained from Alya’s face. Marinette had called her a few hours earlier. She tried to tell Alya about the opportunity to actually interview MDC and that she had a pass for Alya, but the reporter assured Marinette that Lila was handling everything. As Ladybug walked inside, she tried calling Marinette, but there was no answer.

The few news reporters inside immediately went to Ladybug and asked her questions. She answered a few, but there was one important one asked. “Ladybug, who designed your dress?”

“Well I actually will be announcing that later as the designer has an announcement they want me to make for them.”

That created an excited chatter within the group of reporters and Ladybug slipped away into the crowd. Chloé was the first person to find Ladybug after the reporters. At first the girl was making it all about herself, but then she noticed that Ladybug looked uncomfortable. “Ladybug, how many big events have you gone to?”

“Other than this, maybe two or three as a civilian and never as a hero and being at one as Ladybug is really different.”

“I would guess so. Ladybug is more popular. Did Marinette come with you?”

Ladybug nodded. “Sort of, but she took a different entrance before I formally arrived. I know a number of people already know about her, but better to keep the surprise. I’m planning to announce her before she comes out and race out right after I announce her because you just know there’s going to be an akuma from your class. My guess is either the reporter or the liar.”

“Yes, I can see Lila being akumatized again from someone’s lies being learned and Alya for believing them all.”

“I’m just hoping with it being late enough we don’t get two akumas today.”

“We’ve only ever gotten one per day.”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “Magician of Misfortune and Princess Fragrance.”

Chloé reluctantly nodded. “Yeah okay, you got me there. I think everyone forgets about him because it was the same day and Fragrance went after royalty.”

“Then there was also you and Sabrina.” At that, Chloé looked away, feeling ashamed. “Don’t worry. It’s fine if you don’t remember or don’t want to remember that day.”

The two girls stayed by each other’s side for most of the party. Since Chloé had been Queen Bee, it was easy to play it off as just being familiar, the two also quietly discussed the reveal happening later tonight. “I can’t imagine how Marinette must feel. Well, maybe sort of since it would be like revealing myself as Ladybug, but it’s also different too.”

“Well, you might not believe me, but after my reveal, I was upset at myself, though mainly since it didn’t work the way I had wanted.”

Ladybug put a hand on Chloé’s shoulder. “Chloé, there’s always the chance for people to change. It just depends on if you try.”

The blonde nodded. “You’re right. I mean, unlike Lila, who refuses to try and change.”

“I know!” Ladybug threw her hands up in exasperation. “I’ve told her to stop but nope! She’s rather be akumatized again. It’s like she’s working for Hawkmoth!”

Then someone tapped on Ladybug’s shoulder. “ Hello, I believe you are Ladybug of the duo of heroes?”

Ladybug turned to see a woman with brown hair put into a bun, light brown eyes and wearing a dark blue dress. “Yes, that would be me. I suppose you’re not from Paris?”

The woman shook her head. “No, I’m from Italy but did move here a few months ago.”

Ladybug tried not to stiffen up as she looked at Chloé, who met her eyes. “Yes this is Ladybug and I’m Chloé Bourgeois, daughter of the mayor. Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Rossi, would it?”

The Italian woman looked over at Chloé in minor surprise. “I am. I wasn’t aware you knew those working in the-”

Chloé held a hand up to the woman, quieting her. “I don’t actually, “I just happen to have a classmate who looks a little similar to you who also moved to Paris from Italy a few months ago. In fact, we were just talking about her.”

Mme Rossi smiled at that. “I’m glad she’s making friends here.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. We’re not friends. I may be mean, but I’m not going to have someone like her as a friend. Harassment does not look good on her.”

“Harassment?” Mme Rossi asked, shocked. “Who has been harassing her?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the other way around.” Ladybug spoke up. “Your daughter has been harassing someone else. In fact it led to someone being akumatized as someone was worried for the other person’s safety.”

Chloé scoffed. “I know. I hated when she sent that picture. I mean, she lied her way in there. You should have seen how upset Adrien’s dad was.”

“Adrien? As in Adrien Agreste Lila’s boyfriend?” Mme Rossi asked, causing the two girls to choke on air for a few moments. Chloé was the first to recover.

“No, Adrien isn’t dating anyone at all!”

“You may just not know. He is a teen model and it could hurt his career if the press lea-”

“No! That’s not the case! I’ve been his friend since we were kids. Even stuff the press doesn’t know about him I know. Like the fact that the main person he wants to date is Ladybug.”

Unfortunately, that made it harder for Ladybug to recover as she started choking on air again, getting looks from Chloé and Mme Rossi. “I don’t know why. If Ladybug and Chat Noir did a better job protecting Paris, maybe I could believe that.”

“It’s not their fault Hawkmoth attacks every day. If he toned it down a bit it would be more likely to have just one peaceful day.”

“One a day still doesn’t excuse an entire school being shut down to perpetual akumatizations if the heroes could take care of them just as quickly as they’re made!”

Finally, Ladybug recovered. “I’m sorry Ma’am, but Chat Noir and I normally can take care of them within a few hours. And the schools are only closed if the akuma is close by. You act like they’ve been closed for days on end.”

“Of course they have been! I couldn’t send my daughter to school for a long time because of it.”

Chloé raised an eyebrow. “She said you two were travelling. That’s what our whole class and principal believed. You could ask any of them.”

Mme rossi stood in shock for a few minutes before nodding. “I suppose I will have to do that.”

Ladybug gave a smile and nodded before turning to Chloé. “I think I need to go do my announcement.”

Chloé nodded and got people to give their attention to Ladybug. She even allowed Nadja to go live from within the venue as when entering all the reporters were informed not to unless allowed.

“Hello there. As many people know, I am Ladybug, one of the heroes of Paris. In the news recently has been a designer known as MDC and they asked if they could make a dress for me. At first, I turned them down since there wasn’t much need to wear it in my suit and wearing as a civilian would reveal my identity. Then I was invited to this party. I was able to accept their offer, but I was given one condition. They asked me to help finally announce them to the world officially. And yes, that means their identity will finally be revealed. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that the reveal will cause someone to be akumatized, so I will have to run out of here right after I give their name.”

The crowd waiting in bated breath. Ladybug knew where she needed to run to so she could safely detransform. She watched to make sure her path was clear before looking at the crowd once more. “MDC does not stand for something like Material Design Creator or Magic Design Crafter or something like that which some people thought. MDC is there initials. And their name… Their name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed the reveal, which Ladybug used to get away. The moment she was away from view, she could hear the crowd past the door erupt in talking about the reveal. Ladybug quickly took off her dress, put it to the side, and changed back to Marinette. She then picked the dress back up and draped it over her arm to make it seem like the dress had been given to her. Then, she walked through the door.

Within seconds, her picture was being taken by all the nearby reporters. Because of that, she didn’t notice Adrien Agreste, or the fact that he was leaving the venue. Marinette quickly announced that yes, she was indeed MDC. Jagged Stone and Penny Rolling had suggested using an acronym so they could announce her designs. As she was only fourteen, she would not be joining any design company just yet. She would be waiting a few years, and until then, she would only be taking certain requests, mainly from those she knew well, or those she knew in general if it were for a special reason. Jagged had assured he was going to help with her career, to which Jagged, who was in the crowd yelled out that ‘of course he would help his niece!’ which earned some chuckles from the crowd. Then the place rumbled.

“Akuma!”

“Ladybug must have gone for the wrong person.” Marinette exclaimed. “And if they’re after anyone…”

Before anything more could be said, Chloé rushed to Marinette’s side and started dragging her away. “You’re right, they’re going to be after you. I know some good hiding places in this building so you’re coming with me.”

Marinette tried to pull away from Chloé. “If they’re after me, you could be in danger for helping.”

“Look Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug wants you safe so I’m helping. Besides, I’ll hide you one place and then obviously guard another place to distract whoever it is, got it?”

Reluctantly, Marinette agreed, and once Chloé had left her alone, she changed back to Ladybug to stop the akuma.

The next day in class was a chaotic mess. Lila’s mother had come to talk with the principal and learned that Lila really had told them false tales of travelling. Lila was quickly expelled and sent back to Italy to live with her uncle who was rather strict. Alya had tried apologizing to Marinette, and while the designer accepted the apology, she stated that more would have to be done for the two of them to become friends again.

Unfortunately Alya didn’t like this answer and got upset at Marinette, to which Chloé stepped in between the former friends. “I thought you hated Marinette, why are you protecting her?”

Chloé crossed her arms. “I used to hate her. Maybe I’m still a little jealous, but I’ve been more of a friend to her recently than you have. Besides, we’re both famous now. And last I checked, your blog was on the decline from fame.”

Adrien tried to stop Chloé rather than calm Alya, upsetting the blonde further. “Look Adrien, I know You were aware the entire time Lila was lying and you didn’t do a single thing about her, so don’t you dare try and stop me for being good.”

That statement turned the heads of the class. If it was true, then most of them had nearly turned their backs on Marinette permanently because of some fancy stories. And unfortunately, Adrien confirmed it for them. “Chloé, you saw how they treated Marinette, they would have done the same to me. Besides, it wasn’t actually hurting anyone”

“First of all Adrien, no one believed Marinette because Nino and Alya though she was just jealous, and if they as Marinette’s best friends were dismissing the claims, then of course no one else was. Second of all, how could you say those two sentences right next to each other? If you were scared of being treated like that, then yes, it was hurting someone! Maybe I was bad, but that was equal to stuff I do if not worse!”

Adrien was left speechless and soon class started. But at the end he was still unable to speak any more to Chloé or Marinette as the blonde dragged Marinette away to talk. “Okay Marinette, how are you holding up?”

“Um, well, the class finally knowing the truth about Lila is sort of nice, but I wish they had found out sooner.”

“I’m actually glad they didn’t. Some people stayed on your side and some didn’t. Her showing up revealed who’s really your friends and who’s not. Alya and Nino aren’t with you and Adrien isn’t with us anymore. But the members of the band you help with, they might have been swayed a bit, but they still are somewhat on your side.”

“But… Nino’s been one of the friends I’ve had the longest.”

“And people can change Marinette. I’m getting better, you’re moving up in the world, and he’s no longer really your friend. I mean, think about Ladybug and Chat Noir. They used to work well together, but now all Chat Noir wants to focus on is dating Ladybug and he’s started harassing her. Like… I know it’s not the best comparison, but think of Adrien as Ladybug and Lila as Chat Noir. I can’t be completely sure, but it seems like it’s hurting their heroing seeing as how Ladybug keeps bringing in new heroes and how Hawkmoth has Mayura helping him. If it were up to me, I would have someone else be the cat, someone who can actually help Ladybug.”

“Yeah… maybe you’re right. Well, I need to work on my piece for Penny. I’ll see you after lunch.”

As Marinette walked away, Chloé watched until the designer was out of earshot before making one last comment. “Good luck Ladybug.”

**Aftermath:**

Soon after the reveal of MDC, a new cat hero appeared named Shadow Claw. Ladybug announced it was because Chat Noir had been compromised, It wasn’t completely the truth, but was close enough. He looked close enough to Chat Noir other than a bit of a costume change that not many people realized at first.

A year later, Hawkmoth and Mayura were captured and found to be Gabriel Agreste and his assistant. He was discovered when he funded a trip to have Lila return. Any plan he had which needed assistance from Lila was stopped, but unfortunately the butterfly and peacock miraculouses were stolen by Lila and while it wasn’t completely confirmed, it was likely Adrien had gotten ahold of the peacock.

Around this time Marinette and Luka finally started dating. It took a bit longer for them to get together because she started crushing on Shadow Claw. Plus there was the fact that being a hero wouldn’t help with a relationship since she would have to leave all the time. But, in between the defeat of the original Hawkmoth and Lila becoming the new Hawkmoth, she revealed her identity to a few close friends including the musician. He was understanding since he was also helping as a hero.

Two years following that, Marinette was old enough that she agreed to join a company. At this point, Audrey’s fashion empire from America had created a large branch in France. It Wasn’t official yet, but once Chloé was out of school, the French portion of the company would belong to her. Since Marinette and Chloé had become friends over time, Marinette agreed to join specifically Chloé’s part of Audrey’s business.

From there her fame only grew, and following the final defeat of Hawkmoth and with the miraculouses finally returned into the care of her, the new guardian now that Fu had officially retired, she revealed to all of Paris who she was. The miraculouses were given back to her and she also said goodbye to Tikki. Well, she did for a few years, But the life of a hero called to her once more, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was able to say, Spots On.


End file.
